Shocking Surprise!
by swirlheart
Summary: Sasuke’s been a real pain lately in squad 7 and everyone’s had enough. Even Kakashi! So the masked sensei comes up with a solution… a shock collar to keep the Uchiha in line! Please read and review! Nice ones please
1. Chapter 1

Shocking Surprise!

Kakashi was well aware of Sasuke's attitude and tolerated it to an extent. But lately Sasuke had been in a very bad mood and was taking it out on everyone in his team. Kakashi could sympathize with Sasuke for not feeling well, but that was no excuse for taking it out on others around him. Just yesterday he had to break up a fight that ensued between Sasuke and Naruto after combat practice. He had to separate the two rivals before they killed each other. A fistfight nearly broke out two days ago because of Sasuke's verbal abuse directed towards the blond ninja. And Naruto wasn't the only target. Sasuke had insulted Sakura as well, calling her annoying and useless.

Needless to say, Kakashi had had enough. He had to do something about this, but simply telling Sasuke to behave himself wouldn't work. Sasuke always seemed to want to do things the hard way.

Finally, the masked ninja had an idea. It was a little drastic, but something had to be done.

~*~*~

"Good morning, everyone!" Kakashi had arrived late again, but thins time he had a good reason.

"Kakashi-sensei, what's in that bag?" Sakura was the fist to notice the bag clutched in Kakashi's hand as was quick to point it out to the others.

Kakashi glanced down. "Oh, this?" He held up the bag. "It's for Sasuke."

Said ninja looked up. "Me? What is it?"

"Call it a gift."

Sasuke wrinkled his nose at the bag. "No thanks."

"It's part of your training today." Kakashi approached, digging through the bag with his right hand. "Come here."

Groaning, Sasuke stepped forward.

"Turn around," Kakashi smiled.

Sasuke cursed under his breath and did as he was told.

Kakashi rummaged around in the bag and pulled out a dark blue collar. He quickly fastened it around Sasuke's neck. Performing a few hand-signs, Kakashi gave the collar a quick jab and stepped back.

"There you go!"

Sasuke looked down. He ran his fingers over the leather collar and gasped. "A dog collar?! You gave me a dog collar?! What the Hell, Kakashi?!"

"This is part of your training," Kakashi explained. "I've tolerated your attitude long enough and so has everyone else. You're part of a team. When you insult your teammates and put them down the way that you do, you're not only hurting their feelings, but you're also discouraging them. If you want them to be there for you and help you out, treat them better. By your constant criticisms and insults, you're constantly putting them down and that isn't good for the team. Get it?"

Sasuke frowned.

"You have to learn not to insult your teammates who are only trying their best. No matter how much they improve, it's never good enough for you so you tear them down. You have to work on not doing that. You need to learn how to be nicer and not insult your comrades… Which is why I put that shock collar on you!"

A second went by and then…

"You WHAT?!" Sasuke began to furiously tug and pull at the collar but it wouldn't come off.

"Ah-ah-ah…" Kakashi wagged his finger. "You can't take it off. I pull a sealing jutsu on it that makes the lock blend into the collar itself making it impossible to unhook. That jutsu also makes it impossible to take off all together. You can't cut it, burn it or anything."

"Then how am I supposed to get it off?!" "You're not. I'll remove it when I think that you've learned your lesson. That simple."

"Kakashi, I'm in no mood for any of your sadistic ideas, now take this damn collar off me now!"

"I think it looks good on you," Naruto teased.

"Bite me!" A loud ZAP rang out as the collar shocked Sasuke for the first time, sending thousands of volts through his body. "YEOW!!" Sasuke dropped to his knees clutching the collar in both hands.

"Sasuke, are you ok?" Sakura cried, rushing to his side.

"Obviously not!"

Naruto burst out laughing. "This is like the BEST idea Kakashi ever had! I love this collar!"

"Can it, loser!" ZAP! "OW! Damn it!"

"Well, there you have it. Every time you insult someone or verbally abuse them, the collar will give you a mild electric shock."

"You call that MILD?! It hurt like Hell!"

Kakashi ignored him. "It will also shock you if you act hostile toward your teammates. And by that I mean if you try to punch Naruto in the face again."

A little rivalry was good between the two because it made them both train harder and get stronger. Kakashi was fine with that, but what Sasuke had been doing lately was nothing short of bullying. Hopefully, this collar would change that.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

To be continued in the next chapter… this is gonna be fun!

Please tell me what you think! Review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

"Must… get… it… off!" Sasuke grunted, putting a kunai between his neck and the collar and attempted to saw it off. It was impossible to cut! True to Kakashi's words, the collar couldn't be cut off. It was stuck and so was Sasuke.

Cursing, he cast the dulled blade aside and looked at the other failed attempts to remove the collar which lay in a pile on the floor. Knives, scissors, kunai, matches and all sorts of other tools. Sasuke had half a mind to use a blowtorch or a paper bomb next, but he wasn't going to risk blowing himself up just to attempt to get the collar off.

"Ok…" he sighed. "It's not coming off."

He kicked a chair him his anger and cursed Kakashi under his breath. A moment later, he received a painful shock from the collar. "OW! Damn it! It even shocks me when I don't insult the person directly! And I didn't even insult him! I just cursed him, you stupid collar!"

Sasuke had spent his entire afternoon home trying to get the collar off and nothing had worked. He hated that stupid thing and would give anything to get it off!

He heard a knock at the door and went to answer it. Naruto was standing in his doorway wearing a huge smile.

"Hi!"

Sasuke glared at him. "What do you want, loser?" ZAP! "Damn it!"

"Heheheh!" Naruto giggled. "This is great!"

"Yeah, maybe for you!"

Naruto noticed Sasuke's raw hands and white knuckles. "You've been trying to take it off, haven't you?"

Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets. "Maybe."

"Kakashi-sensei told you that you couldn't take it off. But you twisted and pulled and cut and everything else until your hands looked like that." He pointed to Sasuke's pockets.

"Oh, shut up!" The collar sparked and Sasuke winced. "I hate this thing."

"I love it!"

"I noticed…" Sasuke gave Naruto a bitter look. "Did you come here just to rub it in my face?"

"No. Kakashi sent me. He's treating us to dinner tonight!"

"Celebrating, is he?"

Naruto laughed again oblivious to Sasuke rage. "No, I don't think it's that. Come on! He's wait for us!" He grabbed Sasuke's arm and pulled him away.

~*~*~

"Well, isn't this nice?" Kakashi smiled looking at his pupil's faces.

Sakura smiled in agreement and Naruto nodded back. Sasuke, on the other hand, gave Kakashi a really dirty look.

"Nice to hear it!" Kakashi ignored Sasuke's objection with another smile.

"Take it off, for the love of God," Sasuke hissed under his breath.

"You haven't learned your lesson yet, Sasuke," Kakashi said calmly. "It comes off after you've learned and no sooner."

"What lesson? You said that the collar was training!"

"It is. It's training you not to be so aggressive and hostile toward your teammates… Who are only trying to help you."

"I don't need any help! I said it before and I'll say it again: Others slow me down!"

"It's that kind of attitude that needs to change. Just the other day, you were insulting Naruto by pointing out all his faults and to rub salt in the wound, you said that you could have done it better yourself."

"Which I could have."

"Work as a team! Don't go for the glory, go for the win. You win as a team so learn how to work together as one."

"And this collar's supposed to help me do that?"

"Yup. Learn to respect each other and not put each other down."

"But they can't do anything right, especially Naruto!" The collar did its job and gave Sasuke a well deserved shock. Sasuke yelped in pain.

"I agree, Naruto's a little… clumsy and he does screw up sometimes…"

"I'm right here."

"… but he does his job, same as everyone else. So don't call his an idiot even if he is one."

"Still here!"

Sasuke grit his teeth. "But he can't do anything right! He's an idiot! The biggest one I know!" The collar gave him a very painful shock after that statement. Sasuke yelped again, gaining the attention of several people in the restaurant. Sasuke slumped in his seat, panting.

Kakashi shook his head. "You brought this on yourself."

Naruto chuckled again. "I love this collar!"

~*~*~

Training the next day was a nightmare! During tracking practice, Sakura tripped and fell with a cry, giving away their position. Sasuke attempted to insult her and the collar shocked him again and again. To make matters worse, Naruto asked for Sasuke to be a little nicer and that made Sasuke's blood boil.

"Shut up, you stupid-" ZAP! "OW!"

Naruto smirked. "Hey, Sasuke, check this out." He stepped closer and kicked Sasuke's shin.

"Ow! You stupid son of a-" ZAP! "OW! I'm gonna-" He went to wring Naruto's neck but the collar kept him at bay, shocking him repeatedly.

Naruto just stood there and laughed. "Oh, man, I LOVE this collar!"

"I'll kill you, you stup- OW! Son of a- OW! I'll tear your- OW! Idiot- OW! Loser- OW! Make it stop!"

Sasuke couldn't take it anymore. The shocks were too painful and frequent. He lay in the grass, pulling at the collar with both hands.

Naruto sat in the grass, still laughing at his rival.

"Naruto, keep that up and I'll give you one, too," Kakashi warned.

He stopped laughing.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

For some reason, Naruto seemed to feel the need to parade Sasuke around the village as if to show off his new unwanted collar. The blond idiot was clearly enjoying it.

"Hey, Kiba!" He waved at the ninja.

"Hey, Naruto, what's up?" he howled back.

Shino stood silently beside him.

Naruto shoved Sasuke forward. "Check it out!" He pointed at the collar and Sasuke groaned. Did _everyone_ have to know about this?

Kiba leaned forward, examining it closely. "Weird looking thing. What is it?"

"It's a shock collar!"

Sasuke shut his eyes in horror. _Please no… _

Kiba blinked. "Shock collar, eh? What for?"

"To keep him in line," Naruto said. "Kakashi-sensei said that he needs to work on his anger and hostility a little bit, so he put that on him."

"Hostility, huh?" Shino murmured. "So he finally had enough of Sasuke's attitude, did he?"

"What attitude?!" Sasuke barked.

Shino was unfazed. "See my point?"

"Listen here, bug-boy!" The collar gave Sasuke a quick ZAP for the unwanted nickname.

"So…" Shino drawled. "It shocks you if you display any sign of hostility, huh? Very interesting."

"It also reacts to this!" Naruto stomped on Sasuke's foot.

Sasuke let out a yelp of pain and lunged at the blond, but the collar stooped him in his tracks. He howled in pain and jumped away from Naruto, pulling at the collar.

"Cool! Let me try!" Kiba stepped up.

"Stay the Hell away from me!" Sasuke warned.

"Someone's under a lot of stress," Shino said. His voice was almost teasing.

Sasuke grit his teeth. "I am not under stress, damn it! I want this collar off now!"

"But Kakashi-sensei said that you couldn't until you learn to behave."

"Listen, Naruto, I swear I'm going to-!" As he reached for Naruto's neck, the collar sent more electricity through his body. The more he tried to grabbed for his teammate, the more it shocked him. Naruto was having a blast. He danced in and out of Sasuke's reach, taunting him.

"You shouldn't do that," Shino advised.

"Why not?"

"Because sooner or later, Sasuke's going to have that collar removed and the natural order will be restored."

"…Huh?"

Shino sighed, shaking his head. "He'll beat the living shit out of you once he gets it off."

"At this rate, he might never get it off," Kiba pointed out.

They all focused on Sasuke who was writhing in the grass, twisting and pulling at the collar, cursing every word in the book. The collar was still shocking him from every name he had called Naruto and for every attempt to throttle him just moments before. Naruto was still rolling around in the grass, laughing his head off. He was having _way_ too much fun with this.

Sasuke thrashed again as the collar gave him one final shock. He lay quietly in the grass panting and moaning. Naruto leaned over to see if his rival was ok. All the electric shocks left Sasuke's hair very staticy and poofy. Upon seeing this, Naruto fell over backward and laughed again.

Kiba turned to Shino. "What are the odds of Sasuke learning his lesson?"

Shino shrugged. "I'd say we'd have a better chance of that thing shorting out before that happens."

"Good point…"

Akamaru barked in agreement.

~*~*~

Sasuke couldn't take much more of this. Due to receiving so many frequent shocks, his body was now suffering through some rather annoying side-effects. Every now and again his body would suddenly jerk or convulse as if he were being shocked by a taser.

"Jeez.. As if being shocked wasn't enough…"

Sakura hurried over and presented Sasuke with a lunchbox. "Sasuke, how are you?"

His body twitched and he narrowed his eyes at her. "I won't dignify that with a response."

Sakura handed him the lunchbox. "Wanna have lunch with me? I made too much food and can't finish it by myself. Let's share!"

Sasuke wrinkled his nose at it. "No."

"Ohh… Why not?"

"I don't want to be poisoned." The collar gave him a ZAP. He shut his eyes and groaned in pain.

"Sasuke, does it hurt?"

"DUH! Of course it does, you idiot!" ZAP!

Sakura tried to reach her hand toward Sasuke, but he pulled away. He didn't want lunch. He didn't want her pity. He wanted the collar OFF! He would have given anything to have it removed. Anything at all.

"Maybe I can help you," Sakura said. "Maybe… maybe I can talk to Kakashi-sensei and get him to remove it. We'll convince him that you don't need it and that you've learned your lesson."

Sasuke turned away.

"We can try it."

"Sakura…"

Her heart skipped a beat. "Yes?"

"You're so annoying." ZAP! Sasuke yelped and growled at the collar. "I want this damn thing off!"

"Maybe if we-"

"Just shut up, Sakura!" ZAP! "You're such a-" ZAP! "Damn it! I didn't even say it yet!"

Sakura tried to calm him down as best she could. "What if Naruto and I-"

"That loser can't do anything right!" ZAP! He stomped his foot on the ground and howled with pain. "This thing is driving me crazy! For the love of God, make it stop!" With that he ran all the way back to his house, violently pulling at the burden around his neck.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Sasuke was being tortured. There was no other way to describe it. It was torture. It was driving the Uchiha crazy! Naruto was still having fun with it, however and Sakura was still trying to convince Kakashi that the collar was no longer needed. But the constant zapping and curses told him otherwise. It wasn't coming off until Sasuke improved. End of story.

"But, Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura pleaded. "I never seen him like this before. I'm worried."

"Well, don't be." Kakashi glanced over the top of his book at her. "He's fine."

Sakura frowned and wordlessly pointed to Sasuke in the grass. Kakashi followed her finger. Sasuke was rolling around in the grass cursing and screaming his head off. The collar was still zapping him from calling Naruto a bastard and attempting to rip his head off.

"Oh, he's fine. He's just being a drama queen," Kakashi assured.

Another loud ZAP rang out and Sasuke screamed in agony. He twisted and turned about and pulled at the collar again and again. It wasn't going to give. When Naruto laughed at his demeaning position, Sasuke tried to pounce on him and received yet another excruciating shock from the collar. Sasuke gagged and dropped to the ground. He kicked the air and screamed his lungs out. Then he rolled over onto his stomach and began to punch the earth with his fists like a small child throwing a tantrum. He thrashed around and cried over and over again, "I want it off! I want it off, I want it off, I want it OFF! Off, off, OFF!"

Kakashi's eyes widened slightly at the childish display coming from Sasuke of all people. He caught Sakura's gaze for a moment. "…He's fine."

"You call that 'fine'?! He's practically in tears!"

"Oh, no he's not. You're exaggerating."

"Please take it off!" Sasuke begged. "I'm begging you! For the love of God and all that is good in the world, TAKE IT OFF OF ME!!!"

Sakura glared at Kakashi as if to say 'I told you so'. Kakashi shifted his eyes from left to right and said after several minutes, "He's fine."

~*~*~

After that painful display and about a million shocks of high voltage later, Sasuke was a mere shell of himself. He had been reduced to a zombie after all that and now sat silently at the same table with the others in a quiet restaurant, eyes unfocused and staring into space.

This worried Sakura, but Kakashi assured her that it was just a result of being shocked so many times. It had left his body weakened and tired. His body would still twitch and spasm every now and again and his hair would frizz, but this was all involuntary.

Naruto elbowed him in the side. "Hey, Sasuke, want some dumplings?"

"…Ma…"

That's what he's been reduced to. So far, that was the only thing that Sasuke had said besides nothing at all. He no longer used actual words, just sounds. Kakashi thought that this was because of his sore throat, drama or because he had been conditioned not to speak anymore out of fear of being shocked again. No one knew for sure, but these seemed to be the best explanations.

"Sasuke, dumpling?"

He looked at the plate through half-lidded eyes. "Ma."

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked. "Are you ok? Can't you speak?"

"Ma."

A mischievous smile found its way onto Naruto's face. He was up to something.

"Sasuke?"

"Ma."

"Sasuke?"

"Ma."

"Sasuke?"

He frowned. "Ma?"

Naruto smiled. "Sasuke?"

His eye twitched. "Ma?" he inquired more irritably than before.

The blond giggled. "Sasuke?"

He repeated Sasuke's name over and over again and again, nonstop. If his goal was to annoy Sasuke it was working. Sasuke grinded his teeth and growled.

"Sasuke? Sasuke? Sasuke? Sasuke? Sasuke? Sasuke? Sasuke? Sasuke? Sasuke?"

That was way too much. He had had enough. He grabbed a plate of dumplings and tried to beat Naruto over the head with it. Tried and failed. The collar electrocuted him and he flinched, causing the plate to come crashing down on top of his head. The plate shattered and the sticky dumplings landed in his hair.

"Oh, Sasuke! You're a mess! Here, let me help." Sakura cried leaping up with a napkin in hand. She tried to clean him off, Sasuke refused any help and shoved her away. The collar shocked him again. He fell to the ground twitching and spazing.

Naruto turned to Kakashi. "As much fun as this is, when are you going to take the collar off?"

His sensei shrugged. "When he learns."

Naruto grunted softly, acknowledging his words and dropped a piece of meat on Sasuke's face and chuckled as he tried to strangle him, getting shocked in the process.

"Remember, Naruto," Kakashi warned. "If you like his collar so much, I can always give you one, too."

Naruto flinched, turning pale. "R- really?"

He nodded and asked Sakura to help Sasuke back to his seat.

Sasuke panted and muttered under his breath, "You're all idiots!" The collar shocked him yet again. "YEOUCH!" Sasuke grabbed onto the table for support but it gave way and came crashing down on top of him along with all their food. Kakashi dismissed this and raised his broken glass.

"Ma'am, some more water, please."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

For the past three days, Sasuke had the shock collar around his neck, shocking him every time he did or said anything offensive or hostile. Naruto found it quite amusing while Sakura felt the need to nurse Sasuke and baby him as much as possible. Kakashi just hung back and watched in mild amusement.

Being threatened with a collar of his own, Naruto stopped instigating Sasuke and carried on as he normally would as if Sasuke didn't have the collar.

But Sasuke clearly wasn't learning his lesson. He kept insulting, cursing and being cruel to just about everyone he came across. He even tried to punch Naruto a few times in his anger. The collar left him writhing on the ground in agony. Sasuke wasn't making any progress at all.

Today, he didn't even show up for training. Wanting to investigate, Naruto went to Sasuke's house and knocked on the door.

"Sasuke, it's me! Open up!"

No answer.

He knocked again. "Sasuke?"

Still no answer.

Naruto jiggled the knob and discovered that it was unlocked. He opened the door and went inside. He looked around and called his rival's name. He heard moaning coming from the kitchen and went to investigate.

Sasuke was sitting on the floor in a fetal position, rocking slowly back and forth.

Naruto bent down and tapped Sasuke on the shoulder. "Uh, Sasuke?"

The Uchiha jumped and looked up. His hair was all static and he had dark rings under his eyes.

"You're a wreck."

"Nugh… " Sasuke moaned, clutching his legs closer to his chest.

"Are you ok?"

Sasuke rocked again and muttered something incoherent.

"Come again?"

"Sssshhh…Shh… Shhh- sh- shock…" His eye twitched. "Sh- shock… shock…"

Maybe Kakashi had gone a little overboard. The shock collar was putting Sasuke in shock. It was too much for him.

"It… won't… stop… shocking… me…"

"Huh?" Naruto leaned closer to listen.

"Every time I open my mouth… it shocks me…" Sasuke whimpered. "I can't do anything!"

"Calm down. I'm sure we can fix this." He helped Sasuke into a sitting position and tried to fix his hair. "You know, I'm kind of surprised that you're not yelling at me for touching your hair."

Sasuke whimpered, "I'm afraid it'll shock me again."

"Don't worry about it. You'll be fine!"

"Easy for you to say! You're not being electrocuted every five minutes!"

"Can you _go_ five minutes without insulting someone?"

Sasuke didn't say anything.

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all," Naruto went on. "But you can't be silent your whole life. You have to talk to someone."

"Yeah, and I'll get shocked," Sasuke said bitterly.

"Not if you're saying something nice."

He said nothing.

"Come on, let's try it out." Naruto waited, but Sasuke did nothing. "Anytime."

Sasuke turned away.

"What's your problem, you jerk? If you say something nice, the collar won't shock you. So say something nice to me."

Sasuke hung his head.

"What's the matter? Is it that hard for you to say something nice to me?"

He nodded.

"Why?"

"'Cause I don't know if this collar will shock me if I lie." ZAP! "Damn!"

Naruto growled. He grabbed Sasuke's shoulders and forced the raven-haired ninja to face him. "Think of something nice to say to me."

"I can't."

"Then I'll do it for you. Just say… 'Naruto is a better ninja than I can ever hope to be and he is the greatest, strongest, handsomest and most perfect ninja who ever lived!'"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "I'm not going to lie!" ZAP!

"Just tell me I'm perfect."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because you're full of flaws!" ZAP! "You can't do anything right-" ZAP! "And you're an idi-" ZAP! Sasuke crumpled to the floor groaning and whining in pain. "Oh, God, it hurts!"

"It is that hard for you to be nice, isn't it?"

Sasuke whimpered in reply. He looked like a wounded animal begging for mercy. Naruto couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"Oh, alright, I'll help you." Naruto helped Sasuke into a sitting position and brushed him off. "Let's start small. Here's an easy one. Just say 'Naruto, you're a nice guy.' Ok?"

Sasuke moaned.

"Come on, it's easy. You could even call me smart, if you want."

"But I think you're an id-" ZAP! Sasuke shut his eyes and moaned pathetically, gripping Naruto's shoulder tightly with one hand. "F- fine!"

"Good! Don't worry, Sasuke. What's the worst that could happen from you being nice?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

"Just say it!"

Sasuke folded his arms.

"Say it!"

"No."

"Come on, it's not that bad," Naruto whined. "Say it. Just once. Say I'm not a loser."

"But you are-" ZAP! "OW!"

"See? Meanness again.," Naruto scolded. "Now say it. Just once."

"No."

"Then say that I'm a nice guy."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Come on. Say I'm nice."

He said nothing.

"Sasuke!" Now he was getting impatient. "Do you want that collar to shock you for the rest of your life?"

The sudden possibility that the collar may never come off hit Sasuke like a ton of bricks. "For… the rest… of my … life?" He went pale at the thought. No way was he going to let that happen. "Fine I'll say it."

Naruto jumped for joy. "Yes, alright!" He settled down and sat quietly on the kitchen floor in front of Sasuke and waited.

Groaning, Sasuke bit his lip. "Naruto…"

"Yes?"

He took a deep breath and tried to force the words out. "Naruto… you're… you're a…n…n- ni… nic… ni- ice…" He swallowed hard. This wasn't easy. "You're a ni- ice… nice…"

"Spit it out already!"

"Don't rush me!" He gulped again. "You're a nice… guy…"

"There!" Naruto sat back. "Now was that so hard?"

The collar hummed and Sasuke gave a small grunt.

"Aw, man!" Naruto whined. "Don't tell me that it _still _shocked you!"

But Sasuke didn't seem to be in any pain. He stroked the collar lightly and gave an inquisitive sound, similar to a grunt. "Huh… That's strange."

"What is?"

"It didn't shock me, but I felt something."

"What kind of something?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, but it didn't hurt at all."

"Say it again."

Sasuke turned to him. "Huh?"

"Call me a nice guy again."

Sasuke groaned but agreed anyway. "Oh, alright. Ahem… Naruto, you're a nice guy."

The words came easier to his this time. The collar vibrated, emitting a strange humming sound. Sasuke hissed inwardly and let out a long moan.

"Did it hurt?"

He shook his head. "No… It actually felt… kind of… nice."

Naruto blinked in confusion. "Say it again."

"Naruto, you're a nice guy." Once again the collar hummed. Sasuke sighed. "That felt really good!"

"Good how?"

"I don't know how to explain it but…" Sasuke rubbed the collar thoughtfully. "It's… it's almost like getting a massage, but not quite. It also tickles a little, but that's not it either. I can't really explain, but it feels really good!"

"I see. So when you say or do something mean it shocks you, but if you say or do something nice it makes you feel good. So it's rewarding you, I guess."

Sasuke gave him a skeptical look. "That's ridiculous."

"Then complement me again."

Sasuke scoffed. "Nah, you'll get a big head."

"Come on!" he whined. "do it!"

"Oh, alright." Truth be told, he actually really wanted to complement him again just because he liked the feeling he got from the collar from doing so. "Ahem… Naruto, you're not a loser."

The collar buzzed again and Sasuke moaned with pleasure.

"Does it really feel that good?"

Sasuke closed his eyes. "Well… if the pain is so great, I guess the reward should be great, too. It's the opposite feeling, but it's… great." Sasuke slumped against the wall and allowed his head to droop as if he were falling asleep.

Naruto nudged him. "Hey, are you ok?"

Sasuke opened his eyes lazily. "I'm just great."

But Naruto wasn't so sure. He had never seen Sasuke look so relaxed before.

"Again."

"Huh?"

"Again," Sasuke repeated. "I gotta feel that again." Sasuke grabbed his wrist, preventing Naruto from leaving. "Naruto, you're not a loser." The collar hummed. "Oh, God, that feels so good!"

With that, Sasuke collapsed into Naruto's lap.

He flinched. Sasuke had never done this before. He never in a million years thought that Sasuke would ever say something nice to him, and he certainly never thought that Sasuke would ever fall head-first into his lap. It was so unexpected.

He tapped Sasuke's head. "Uh… hello? Sasuke? Are you ok?"

"Mmm." Sasuke grunted and shifted in his lap.

Naruto jabbed him again. "Sasuke, get up."

He pulled himself up and did something that Naruto never thought was possible. He smiled. It was an honest to goodness smile. A pure happy, honest, pleasant smile. And Sasuke was the one wearing it, of all people! Now _that_ was creepy.

"Uh, are you sure you're ok?" Naruto asked, sounding very concerned.

Sasuke merely smiled back at him with a small shrug. "I feel great. Of course I'm ok. I've never felt better." He stroked the collar tenderly. "Funny. It seems like the more I say nice things to you, the stronger the feeling gets."

Naruto pulled Sasuke from him and stood up. "Well, ok, but… keep the weirdness to a minimum, ok? You're kinda creeping me out."

He still had an insipid smile plastered on his face. "Oh?"

"Yeah, you are!" He didn't want to wait around to see what else Sasuke was going to do. He quickly made for the door and reminded Sasuke to show up for training tomorrow.

Once outside, he let out a much needed sigh and shook his head. "What the Hell was that about? Why'd Sasuke act like that? It was almost like he was getting drunk off the thing."

Something weird was definitely going on.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

"I'm telling you, Kakashi-sensei, something weird is definitely going on!" Naruto shouted up into the tree. His sensei was currently reading from one of the top branches and didn't seem to care about anything Naruto had to say. "Sasuke is acting very weird! I think it's because of the collar."

Kakashi shrugged. "That depends on what you mean by 'weird'," he said. "What's been going on?"

Naruto paced the ground, flashing back to the previous day. "Well… first of all, it looked like he was having a break down or something because the collar was shocking him so much. I found him on the floor yesterday. He was a wreck!"

"That's to be expected," Kakashi said coolly. "The collar can have that kind of effect on people, especially if they're being shocked as often as he is. I'm sure it's normal."

"Yeah, but after that is the weird part. I convinced him to say something nice to me for once and when he did, things got really weird!"

"Weird how?"

"Well…" He thought about Sasuke's bizarre reaction to the collar's new activity. "It didn't shock him. But Sasuke said that it gave him a weird feeling. He said that he liked it, but it was really creeping me out."

"Oh?"

"Yeah! First, it was mild, you know? Like he was just smiling and stuff like that. But then later, the more he was nice to me and complemented me, the stranger he became. He was… Well, he was creepy and weird! It was almost like he was drunk or something. He said that he wanted to complement me more and when he did he fell in my lap! It was too weird! He was, like, wasted or something."

"You don't say…"

Naruto was about to go on when something caught his attention. Was it just him, or did Kakashi seem more laid-back than usual? He even noted the smug way he turned the page in his book and never once glanced down at Naruto. Not even to acknowledge him. Something was up.

"Hey…" That's when it hit him. "You know something about this, don't you?"

Kakashi buried his nose in the book.

"You do, don't you?! Out with it! Tell me what's going on!"

"Why, whatever do you mean?" Kakashi asked feigning complete innocence.

He wasn't buying it. "Don't play dumb with me! What did you do to Sasuke?"

With a sigh, Kakashi knew he was caught and explained. "The collar works two different ways. When he misbehaves, the collar will give him a painful shock, as you already know. However, when he behaves properly or kindly to others, the collar will reward his good behavior by making him feel good for doing it. It's kind of like training a dog. When he does bad, he receives pain. When he does good, he gets a treat. Sasuke's reward is happiness. And happiness is addictive. Naturally, people want happiness to last as long as possible because that's our nature. We pursue happiness. That's why he feels the need to be nice to you. He wants the feeling to last. And the more he does it, the more powerful the feeling gets."

"But does he have to act so weird?! It's really creeping me out! I never thought that Sasuke would react like that when he's happy. I always thought that he'd be a little more cool about it and not so… drugged up."

"Oh, that might just be because of the tranquilizers and mood elevators he's getting from the collar."

Naruto blinked. "The… what?"

"Oops."

"What do you mean 'tranquilizers and mood elevators'? What have you been doing?"

Caught again.

"It's not me, it's the collar! The collar is releasing those into his system every time he's nice."

"So that's why he's acting so weird. He IS being drugged!"

Kakashi returned to his book. "It's harmless, I'm sure."

"But what if he gets an overdose or… or is constantly nice to people?"

Beneath his mask, Kakashi gave him a mischievous smile. "We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"

~*~*~

If you thought that Sasuke was bad when he was mean, think again! He was even worse when he was being nice! For the next two days, Sasuke had been following Naruto around, constantly complementing him. At first it was a nice change from being called a loser every five minutes, but now it was just annoying! He was starting to miss the nasty, mean Sasuke that he had come to tolerate. He never thought he'd say this, but he really wanted him back! He'd give anything just to have Sasuke harass or insult him.

Sakura made her way over to the training grounds and sat down on a rock. The rock yelped and Sakura jumped up screaming. In a puff of chakra, Naruto appeared right where the rock had been seconds before.

"Naruto, what the Hell were you doing?!"

He brushed himself off and answered, "I was hiding from Sasuke."

"Why?"

"He won't leave me alone!" he cried. "Ever since he started being nice, he's been following me around and complementing me!"

"That's not too bad."

"Oh, yeah, it is! It's so annoying and creepy! He's scaring me!"

"I'm sure it's not that bad. You're overreacting."

Just then Sasuke came running out of nowhere and jumped on Naruto, giving him a great big bear hug. "Naruto, you're the best!" The collar buzzed and Sasuke swooned. "Oh, God, I love this!"

"Sasuke, get off of me!"

"Never!" Sasuke grabbed him in an even tighter hug, refusing to let go. "I'm never, never ever gonna let you get away!"

Sakura was stunned. Was this really Sasuke? The Sasuke she had a huge crush on? Was it really the same Sasuke who was hugging Naruto right in front of her? Now she knew what Naruto meant. This was scary.

Sasuke stared at Naruto through half-lidded eyes and said, "You're the best ninja ever!" The collar hummed. He giggled. That's right, giggled.

Naruto pushed Sasuke off of his lap and shoved him over to Sakura. "Here, go complement her for a while and leave me alone."

Sasuke pouted. "But I don't know how to be nice to her. I only practiced with you. You're the one that makes me feel good."

"No, I'm not! It's the collar!" Naruto growled. "Try and be nice to Sakura. Call her pretty or something."

Sakura's face lit up at this and stood at the ready. She puffed out her chest and brushed her hair back.

Sasuke just stared at her, unsure of what to do. "Uh…" he began. "Sakura."

"Y- yes?" she squeaked.

"Uh… you're pretty?" The collar hummed again and Sasuke melted on the spot. Wow that felt good!

Sakura was reduced to a puddle herself at the complement from her crush. When she finally came back to her senses, she realized that Sasuke was standing mere inches from her body. Her heart pounded against her chest. What now? What now?!

Sasuke locked eyes with her and said. "You're pretty. You're very pretty."

Her breath caught in her throat and she felt as if she were going to faint.

The collar hummed.

The next thing she knew, she was being squeezed by Sasuke's strong arms. She could see the blush on his face out of the corner of her eye. He was just as happy as she was. She couldn't understand why Naruto was complaining about this. This was a dream come true for her! There was nothing bad about it.

A few yards away, Naruto was doing cartwheels in the grass and cheering to celebrate his recovered freedom. Thank God Sasuke was glued to Sakura now. He couldn't stand being in Sasuke's presence for another minute. And in time, Sakura too would see why.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

"I can't take it anymore!" Sakura screamed as soon as she saw Naruto. She had been around Sasuke for two full days and, she'd never thought she'd say it but, she was sick of it. She actually hated being around Sasuke now! This was not the Sasuke she had fallen for. She missed the old Sasuke. She wanted her perfect, cool, strong, emo Uchiha back; not this weird little freak!

"Now do you see what I mean?" Naruto asked, folding his arms. "And he calls us annoying!"

"I know, Naruto. This is terrible! He's not Sasuke anymore!" Sakura began to pace the ground as she ranted. "I mean, I've always _wanted_ Sasuke to pay attention to me and be nicer to me, but this is awful! I thought it would be nice having him around me all the time, but he's smothering me. I can't do anything anymore! He even followed me home last night."

Naruto blinked and his face turned white. "H- home? He followed you h- home? As in… 'in your house' home?"

"No, my mom chased him away before he could come in, but still…"

Naruto gave a huge sigh of relief.

"I thought it would be great having him so close to me and being nice to me and all that, but… but… And I know I've had a huge crush on him forever!"

"Uh, Sakura?" Naruto mumbled softly. "You know… _I've_ also had a crush on you for a while..?"

"I mean, it almost felt like we were on a date!"

"You didn't hear a word I said, did you?"

"But he was too much!"

"Yeah, you didn't hear me…"

"He wouldn't stop complementing me! I mean, sure it was nice and all, and I really did like it at first… but he wouldn't shut up! All he kept saying was the same thing over and over again! He kept calling me pretty. 'Sakura, you're pretty… Sakura, you're pretty.' He's like a freaking parrot! Doesn't he know how to be nice to someone on his own? Does he really have to have somebody spoon-feed him all the answers? I can't take it anymore! I swear, if I hear him call me pretty one more time..!" She panted having said the entire statement in one breath. She glance over at Naruto who was drawing circles in the dirt with his foot. "Are you even listening to me?"

He looked up. "Oh, so _now_ you want me to talk?" After thinking for a few moments he finally said, "I really think we should tell Kakashi-sensei about this."

"I thought you said that you had already done that."

"I did, but that was before. Now that Sasuke is being nice- No, too nice, maybe he'll take the collar off. After all, he did say that it would stay on until he learned how to be nice."

"That's a great idea! Let's hurry before Sasuke finds us. I don't want to spend another minute around happy-boy-Sasuke. That's just plain creepy!"

"Creepy _and_ annoying."

~*~*~

"It's not coming off."

"But Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto and Sakura whined in unison.

"I meant what I said and I'm sticking by it. The collar doesn't come off until he learns."

"But he has learned!" Naruto protested. "He's being nice. In fact, he's being too nice! He won't leave us alone and he's smothering us! Please, for the love of God, take the damn thing off!"

Kakashi shook his head. "Sorry, but it doesn't come off until I say it does."

"But he's being too nice!"

"He's smothering us!"

"He's creeping me out! "He's not Sasuke anymore!"

"He's driving us crazy!"

"He's like a freaking parrot! He won't shut up!"

"I can't take it anymore! We need that collar off now!"

Kakashi shook his head. "Sorry but my hands are tied."

Suddenly, Naruto and Sakura pounced and latched themselves to Kakashi's legs. "Please, please, please!" they pleaded and begged. Kakashi tried to pry them off of his legs but to no avail. Sakura sank her nails deep into his leg while Naruto sobbed uncontrollably into his thigh. "Please, oh, PLEASE! Please take it off! I'm begging you! He's driving us crazy! PLEASE!"

"Enough! Get off me!" Kakashi somehow managed to pull them off his legs and stood them up. "Now…" he said, regaining his composure. "I'm sure you two are overreacting. It can't possibly be that bad."

Just then, Sasuke poked his head out from behind a tree and spotted them. "Guys!"

They shrieked and hid behind Kakashi.

Sasuke scampered up to them with a mile-wide smile and big eyes. The two genin clung to their sensei for dear life as Sasuke approached. He cocked his head to the side and watched them curiously. "Why are you hiding behind Kakashi-sensei like that?"

"Oh, they're not hiding." Kakashi used a substitution jutsu and appeared a few feet away, exposing Naruto and Sakura completely. "They're just so happy to see you. Have fun!"

"Wait, Kakashi-sensei! Don't leave us alone with-"

Before they could finish, he was long gone.

"We're so screwed…"

Sasuke put his arms around his teammates smiling like a fool. "I missed you guys so much! Where were you?"

Sakura said nothing while Naruto grind his teeth.

"Sakura you're-"

"Please, Sasuke, don't say it!"

"What?"

"Please don't call me pretty. Just don't."

"But you are!" The collar buzzed, encouraging him to go on. He turned to Naruto. "You're the best ninja ever! So not clumsy at all."

At this point, Naruto was in the process of detaching himself from his rival's grip. Once free, he tried to run but Sasuke grabbed hold of his wrist.

"Where do you think you're going? I'm not done complementing you yet."

"Well, I'm through listening!"

"But it feels great when I say it."

As Sasuke proceeded to complement him, Naruto was trying to chew off his own arm at a desperate attempt at freedom.

"You're the best in the world!"

"Sasuke shut up! For the love of God, just shut the Hell up!"

"Huh?" He was taken aback by this.

"It's not you talking, it's the drugs in that stupid collar of yours! You don't mean any of it! You don't even know what you're saying! Just stop being nice!"

"But I like it."

"No, you don't. It's the collar. It's drugging you up. Don't you get it? The collar is what's making you happy and giving you a good feeling! Understand?"

"Uh-huh. I get it." That's what he said, but Naruto wasn't convinced. Sasuke was still smiling.

"No, you don't get it. Listen, Kakashi-sensei gave you that collar, remember?"

"Uh-huh."

"He knows it's drugging you, but he still won't take it off. You're being drugged! You're only feeling happy because the collar is forcing you to."

"I know."

"And you're still- Wait, what?" Naruto wasn't prepared for that. Did he hear him correctly? Did Sasuke just say that he knew he was being drugged?

"I know. I know what the collar's doing to me."

Sakura was shocked. "You do?"

"Yeah. But I don't mind. I kinda like it."

Unbelievable. Sasuke knew? And he _liked _it?! He didn't mind that his feelings were false and that Kakashi was responsible? It was a hard thing to grasp, but the way Sasuke was smiling at them was proof enough of it.

"But, Sasuke," Sakura told him. "The feelings you're experiencing are false! Don't you get it? It's chemically-induced happiness. You don't really feel this way. It's the collar."

"I said I don't mind. I'm the happiest I've ever been in a long time. Don't you think that's great?"

"Not if you don't really feel that way. Wouldn't you rather be happy, just by really being happy?"

He shrugged. "I don't care. Either way is fine. I haven't been angry or upset in so long… It's great! I feel so good!"

Naruto's eye twitched. "But it's kind of annoying how you're happy and chipper all the time. Don't you care that it might get on people's nerves after a while?"

He shrugged again. "I don't care. It doesn't bother me at all. Nothing does anymore."

Naruto was about to knock some sense into him when Sakura pulled him off to the side.

"Naruto," she whispered. "That's the mood elevators and tranquilizers talking. He doesn't really mean it. That's what the drugs do. That's the effect of them. They're supposed to make it so that nothing bothers him and he wants to do what feels good to him. Get it? He's so mellow and carefree."

"Ok, I get it… But…"

Sasuke came out of nowhere, jumped on top of Naruto and hugged him. The collar hummed and Sasuke sighed blissfully. "I love you, man."

For ten seconds, Naruto forgot how to breathe. When he recovered he managed to choke out a terrified, "W- What?!"

Sasuke nuzzled the blond's neck and cooed contentedly as the collar soothed him with its humming and vibrating.

"Sakura, help me!"

The pink-haired ninja shrank away slowly, gave a small noise and bolted like a bat out of Hell. She wanted no further part of this.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I think there's going to be one more chapter to this then I'll end it. I'm not sure how much longer I can torture Sasuke and the others.

... Well, I can, but I'll be nice XD


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

Naruto had to physically drag himself to the training grounds the next day because of Sasuke. The first reason was because Sasuke had followed him home last night and refused to leave. When he finally kicked the drug-happy-Uchiha out, Sasuke took to standing out on the balcony and shouting his complements through the window to the annoyed blond. The second reason he had to drag himself to the training grounds was because Sasuke had attached himself to Naruto's back, refusing to budge. The more Naruto tried to pry him off, the harder he stuck to his back.

He was at his wits end with the Uchiha. He just wouldn't leave him alone. This wasn't turning out halfway as he expected it would. Not only had Kakashi refused to remove the collar, but, to make matters even worse, Sakura had now deserted him, thus leaving Naruto with Sasuke 24/7. This was a living nightmare. At least Kakashi had enough scense to make himself scarce for the past few days. Once he saw how clingy Sasuke was once he started being nice to someone he knew he wanted no part of it. When Sasuke tried to latch himslef to Kakashi's leg, the masked ninja had the right scense of mind to disappear on the spot. Too bad Naruto hadn't learned that trick yet. Where Sakura was spending her time was still an unknown, but if Naruto could he'd join her in a heartbeat. Anything to get away from Sasuke.

"You're amazing, Naruto!"

"Yeah, whatever…"

Now all these words were meaningless. There was absolutely nothing behind them. He was sick and tired of Sasuke constantly complementing him and being nice to him. He really, really wanted the old Sasuke back. Now more than anything.

"You're the best, Naruto!"

"Hmm."

"I love you, man! I really do!"

"Please, stop saying that."

"But I mean it. I mean every word of it. You really are the best guy on the face of the earth and I love you!"

"Please, stop. I wish you would stop saying that. And would you get off my back?!"

Sasuke blinked and quietly climbed off of Naruto's back.

"Thank you! ARGH!" Naruto stomped away.

But Sasuke followed after him.

"No, NO! Leave me alone!" Naruto spun around and growled at Sasuke. "If you really want to be nice to me, you'll go away!"

"But…" Sasuke frowned. "I like being with you."

"That's the collar talking. You don't mean it."

"But I do. I really like you, Naruto."

"No, you don't. Ok? You don't. Argh, how can I make you understand?" Naruto had tried everything to get through to Sasuke, but nothing worked. And now that Sakura had disappeared, this left Naruto with Sasuke all the time. There was no relief and no one to take over for him so he could have a break. He hated the new nice Sasuke and wanted the old one back. As mean and nasty as he was, he was a lot more tolerable than this version. This Sasuke was driving him out of his mind! When was Kakashi going to be convinced that Sasuke no longer needed that collar and would take it off? When was he going to be satisfied?

"Naruto?"

"Don't talk to me!" he snapped. Sasuke recoiled. "I'm so sick and tired of you and your niceness! You're driving me crazy! I want you to go back to being the nasty, mean, rude, obnoxious, emo-king that you used to be! Is that so hard for you to understand?!"

Sasuke stood there for a moment… and then smiled. "But I like being this way. I'm happy and the collar makes me feel so good when I'm nice."

Naruto started pulling his hair out by the handfuls. There was no getting through to him. It was useless!

"In fact, I wanted to talk to Kakashi-sensei today and see if I can keep it on."

Naruto's head shot up and his eyes went impossibly wide. "Wh… What did you just say?"

"I want to keep the collar." Sasuke smiled. "I want it to stay on."

"But- but- but… But that would mean…" Naruto stuttered. "But… that would m- mean th- that… you'd be stuck like this forever…"

Sasuke chuckled. "You're so smart, Naruto. Yup! I'll be the new and improved Sasuke for the rest of my life! Isn't that great?"

His eyes wondered to the trembling body of Naruto who seemed to be having some sort of seizure. He was mumbling incoherent words and twitching.

Sasuke leaned into his friend's face. "Naruto? Are you ok?"

He couldn't take anymore of this! No more! He could handle having this Sasuke around him constantly! He couldn't stand being near him for another second! His eyes narrowed and growled at the pain in the ass. His knuckles curled into fists and he lost all control. It was time He let his feelings be known to the Uchiha without any restrictions. Naruto took one look at Sasuke's happy-go-lucky face and went ballistic.

"Sasuke… You…… IDIOT!"

Before he could blink, Sasuke was sent flying with a punch to his pale face. He landed in a heap on the ground ten feet away. He crawled to his feet and stood up. "Wh… What are you doing?"

"I want Sasuke back. I want the old jerk-faced Sasuke back! I'm so sick you the new you it's not even funny!"

"But I'm not all that different."

"Oh, yeah?!" Naruto spat. "When I punched you just now, the old Sasuke would have beaten the living daylights out of me!"

"But…"

"But nothing!" Naruto stormed up to Sasuke and punched him again. "Come on, Sasuke! Hit me back! Come on, do it! Be a man!"

Sasuke tried to dodge Naruto's blows, but to no avail. "Please, stop, Naruto. I can't..!"

"Can't what?!"

"I can't hit you!"

"Sure you can! Never stopped you before!" He threw another punch at Sasuke's face.

"But… But that would be mean and… not nice at all."

"Come on, you pansy! Hit me back! Take a swing! Do it!"

Sasuke coward and backed away.

"Come on, you big baby! You pussy! You're a disgrace to the Uchiha clan! Look at you, hiding like a coward!" Naruto continued to punch Sasuke anywhere he could get his hands on him. "I said fight back!"

"Please, stop it, Naruto! Please!" he begged.

Naruto knocked him to the ground and unleashed one savage blow after another to Sasuke's face, gut and chest. Sasuke curled up and raised his arms up defensibly, covering his head.

"How pathetic!" Naruto barked. "Well, Mr. Nice Guy Uchiha, maybe you should be nice for the rest of your life, huh? Hey, I have an idea! How about you be even nicer to Sakura and date her like she always wanted?! And, hey, after that, you can even date Ino! And while you're at it, why don't you date Gai-sensei, too! A nice pansy boy like yourself would love to do that, wouldn't you?! Date Lee, for all I care, too! You need the whole package, don't you?! Some tough guy you turned out to be! You can't even defend yourself against a weak, clumsy little idiot like me, can you?!"

Sasuke whimpered and tried to crawl away, but Naruto wouldn't allow it. He hated this new Sasuke and wanted it to be known to the whole world. Each blow was vengeance for each time Sasuke put him through spending a minute in his presence. Each time he had to suffer through a complement, each time he had been smothered by a hug; for everything Sasuke had done to him for the past several days! He had suffered too long. He hated this new Sasuke. Hated, hated, _hated _him! Maybe if he was lucky, he'd beat the nice Sasuke to death and the old nasty Sasuke would return to his rightful place as Naruto's rival.

Sasuke had managed to find his footing and backed away from Naruto, still cowering behind his raised hands. Naruto stood, too, and continued to punch Sasuke with all his might.

"Naruto… p- please…" he whimpered.

"Please nothing!" Naruto snapped. He punched Sasuke again. "Come on, Mr. Nice Guy, hit me back! Do it, you pansy! Hit me! Fight back, you sorry excuse for a ninja! At this rate, I'll be Hokage long before you! Go cry to Sakura! Let her kiss your boo-boos better, you big baby! That's a fine way to start out your date together!"

"Naruto…"

"What?! Are you going to ask me out on a date, too? We all know how you've had it bad for me, anyway… It's about time you confessed your love to me!"

Unbeknownst to the fox-vessel, Sasuke's hands were slowly curling into fists.

"Naruto… stop it…"

"Say 'please', Mr. Nice Guy! Beg me to stop, since you can't do anything else!"

"Stop it…"

"Why? Am I gonna make you late for your make-out session with Neji? What a nice guy you are! Dating everyone in the village! Are you gonna follow me home again like you did last night and try to finish what you started?! Are you gonna make-out with me tonight after Sakura? Huh? Huh?!"

As Naruto threw another punch at Sasuke's face, a pale hand reached out and caught his fist, mere inches from his face. It was Sasuke. His eyes were aflame and narrow. He locked eyes with Naruto's big blue orbs and snarled ferociously.

"Naruto…" he snarled.

Said ninja gulped. Sasuke had the same fierce look in the eyes as he used to.

He drew his fist back getting ready to attack.

The collar sparked and gave Sasuke a good, painful shock.

Sasuke grimaced in pain and froze in place. He opened his eyes and the first thing they fell on was Naruto. His rage urged him on. Growling like an animal on the hunt, Sasuke pulled his fist back again.

The collar zapped him once more. He yelped in pain, but to Naruto's utter surprise, Sasuke was still going for the attack.

_Uh-oh_…

Sasuke was fighting through the pain to get to Naruto. His fury was far more powerful than the zapping of the collar.

ZAP! ZAP! He collar continuously zapped him trying to restrain the enraged Uchiha, but it was no use. It seemed as if Sasuke had become numb to its pain. If anything, the electric zaps only fueled Sasuke's anger.

His grip tightened on Naruto and snarled his name again. "Naruto..!"

The collar zapped him again and again. Now it was starting to send small blots of electricity through the air in every direction. It was starting to discharge.

Sasuke drew his first as far back as it could go and unleashed his rage.

"Naruto… You IDIOT!!!"

The collar gave him an enormous jolt, but he fought through the intense pain. The collar started to crack.

Sasuke threw his punch.

It happened simultaneously. The instant Sasuke's fist made contact with Naruto's jaw was the same instant the collar around his neck finally cracked and shattered.

Naruto was sent flying a full ten feet before slamming into the ground and skidding into a tree.

When he recovered, the first thing he saw was an angry Uchiha storming up to him, cracking his knuckles.

"Now… now wait a minute, Sasuke..! I was only trying to…"

Sasuke wouldn't hear it. "You… idiotic, clumsy, good-for-nothing loser! You sorry excuse for a ninja! You annoying little bastard! I'll freaking kill you!"

Naruto spotted the collar's remains in the grass by Sasuke's feet. "Sasuke!"

"Pansy, am I? Pussy, huh? I'll show you who's the big baby!"

"But Sasuke..!"

"Date Ino and Sakura? Never in my lifetime! Dating Gai and Lee? I'd rather die! But pairing me off with _you_? Now _that_ was over the line!"

"Sasuke, your collar's off!"

He froze in place, Naruto's words finally reaching him. "Huh?"

"Look!" He pointed at the ground. "It's off! It's broken into a million pieces! It's over! We're free!"

Sasuke collapsed in the grass and let out a huge breath. Was it true? Was it really over? He ran his hand over his neck and felt nothing but flash. It was true. He was free of the collar. No more shocking, no more anything. It was gone!

He jumped to his feet and cheered out loud, not caring who saw. Naruto jumped with him. Sasuke was free and so was he! No more Nice Sasuke! It was all over now! Everything was back to normal.

"What do you think did it?" Sasuke asked. "Why'd it break now of all times?"

Naruto stopped jumping and thought. "I think it broke because of the strain we put on it. It couldn't take it anymore and broke. It was too much or the collar to handle."

A few feet way, hidden behind the trees , stood Shino and Kiba.

Shino stuck out his hand. "Told you."

Kiba handed him the money.

"I told you it would shut down and break long before he learned his lesson."

"Yeah, but he was nice, wasn't he?" Kiba asked, remembering his side of the bet.

"But he didn't learn how to be nice," Shino explained. "It was forced upon him with the collar's influence."

"I guess…"

Kakashi appeared out of nowhere and walked up to them. He spotted the shattered fragments of the collar in the grass and shook his head. "Aw… What a crying shame… The collar broke."

"Thank God!" the boys said together.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

"He was driving us crazy! We've already been through this."

"The things I said and did are all a blur, but I know I can never show my face again in the village! I was insane! I couldn't control myself thanks to that stupid collar! I hated it!"

"He drove everyone crazy! Don't you get it, Kakashi-sensei? Why couldn't you take off that damn collar when you knew that Sasuke was being too nice and have everything go back to normal?"

"Because then I wouldn't see how long it took for you two to freak out. I wanted to know just how much both of you could handle and how long it took for that collar to break."

The genin stopped dead in their tracks. Did they hear him correctly?

"What… What did you just say?"

Kakashi blinked. "…" He blinked again. "… Hm?"

Sasuke's face slowly contorted into a dark scowl. "You… you mean to tell me… that you… _you _put that damn collar on me… as a _joke_?!"

"No, not as a joke!" Kakashi protested. "I just wanted to see how long you could be in each other's presence before you snapped. That and I also wanted to test out how long that collar would last against the two of you. It was a funny idea, really. What would win: Sasuke's rage or the collar's influence?" He noticed the two ninja's death glares and asked, "Why are you two looking at me like that?"

"You said that you were going to keep it on him until he learned his lesson!" Naruto snapped.

"… I did?"

"Yeah, you did!" the two screamed.

"Oh. Yeah… I lied." Kakashi smiled. "Well, not really. I mean, that was the idea, to have Sasuke learn how to behave himself… Then I thought that it would also be fun to see how much the collar could take before it broke and to see how long it took to push you two over the edge. Harmless fun, really. Consider it tolerance training. No hard feelings , right?

The two genin turned to each other. Naruto stared at Sasuke and Sasuke stared back. They both nodded, agreeing to a silent truce. Naruto was the fist to make a move.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A dozen Narutos popped out of nowhere and stood at the ready, each one wearing an angry frown.

Sasuke whipped out his Sharingan and held up his left arm, ready to use his Chidori.

Kakashi sweat-dropped. "Oh, boy…"

"GET HIM!!!" Sasuke raced after Kakashi performing several different hand-signs while Naruto led his clone army after his sensei.

Kakashi turned and bolted from the scene running as fast as he could. "Can't you two take a joke? Consider it part of your training! Come on, Sasuke! Remember what I said about revenge? Remember that talk?!"

They weren't listening. The two chased Kakashi off into the forest , throwing every jutsu and weapon they had at Kakashi's deceiving back.

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Whew! It's finally done!

How was it?

Thanks for reading and please review! ^-^


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